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Films with theme "Serial killer films", sorted by revenue
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The Cell (2000)
, 1h47Directed by Tarsem Singh
Origin German
Genres Science fiction, Thriller, Horror, Crime
Themes Medical-themed films, Psychologie, Films about sexuality, BDSM in films, Serial killer films, Films about psychiatry
Actors Jennifer Lopez, Vince Vaughn, Vincent D'Onofrio, Jake Weber, Dylan Baker, Marianne Jean-Baptiste
Child psychologist Catherine Deane (Jennifer Lopez) is an expert in an experimental treatment for coma patients: a virtual reality device that allows her to enter into the minds of her patients and attempt to coax them into consciousness. When serial killer Carl Rudolph Stargher (Vincent D'Onofrio) falls into a coma before the FBI can locate his final victim, Agent Peter Novak (Vince Vaughn) persuades Deane to enter Stargher's mind and discover the victim's location. Stargher's victim is imprisoned in a cell in the form of a glass enclosure that is slowly filling with water by means of an automatic timer.
Saw (2004)
, 1h43Directed by James Wan
Origin Australie
Genres Thriller, Horror, Crime
Themes Medical-themed films, Psychologie, Serial killer films, Films about psychiatry
Actors Cary Elwes, Danny Glover, Monica Potter, Michael Emerson, Ken Leung, Tobin Bell
Adam, a young photographer, awakens in a filthy bathtub. He gets out and finds himself chained to by one foot to a pipe in a large dilapidated bathroom. Lawrence Gordon, an oncologist, is chained by one foot to a pipe across the room and between them lies a corpse, holding a revolver and a microcassette recorder. Adam manages to retrieve the recorder and they learn from tapes in their pockets what they must do: Adam must escape the bathroom, and Lawrence must kill Adam before six o'clock, or his wife and daughter will die and he will be left to die as well. Using a clue from the tape, Adam finds a bag in the toilet tank containing two hacksaws, though neither is able to cut through their chains. Adam's saw breaks and he throws it at a mirror in frustration. Lawrence realizes the saws are meant to be used on their feet and identifies their captor as the Jigsaw Killer, whom Lawrence knows of because he was once a suspect.
My Bloody Valentine (2009)
, 1h41Directed by Patrick Lussier
Origin USA
Genres Thriller, Horror, Slasher
Themes Serial killer films
Actors Jensen Ackles, Jaime King, Kerr Smith, Betsy Rue, Kevin Tighe, Tom Atkins
On the Valentine's Day of 1997, in a small town, a cave-in on the north side of a Hanninger mine trapped six miners. Six days later, rescue teams found five dead miners and the comatose Harry Warden (Richard John Walters), who survived by killing the other miners with a pickaxe, allowing himself to breathe. Tom Hanniger (Jensen Ackles), the mine owner's son, was blamed for the mine disaster because he forgot to vent the methane lines and caused a cave-in, but also Harry Warden for killing the miners.
Evil Dead (2013)
, 1h31Directed by Fede Alvarez
Origin USA
Genres Fantastic, Horror
Themes Films about religion, Demons in film, Serial killer films, Zombie films
Actors Jane Levy, Shiloh Fernandez, Lou Taylor Pucci, Jessica Lucas, Elizabeth Blackmore, Jim McLarty
An injured, terrorized girl is being chased down in the woods. The men who capture her take her to some cabin's basement. They believe she is possessed by an evil entity so they have her tied to a column. Her own father is among them, and as she tries to convince him that there's nothing wrong with her, she slowly loses control and eventually it becomes clear that she is in fact possessed. In response to this her father pours flammable liquid on her, sets her on fire, then shoots her in the head.
Scream 4 (2011)
, 1h51Directed by Wes Craven
Origin USA
Genres Thriller, Comedy, Horror comedy, Action, Adventure, Horror, Slasher
Themes Films about writers, Films about sexuality, LGBT-related films, Serial killer films, Comedy horror films, LGBT-related films, LGBT-related film
Actors David Arquette, Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Emma Roberts, Hayden Panettiere, Carlos Alazraqui
On the 15th anniversary of the Woodsboro Massacre, high school students Jenny Randall and Marnie Cooper are attacked and brutally murdered in their home by a new Ghostface.
The Lovely Bones (2009)
, 2h15Directed by Peter Jackson
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Science fiction, Thriller, Fantastic, Fantasy
Themes Films about children, Films about religion, Films about sexuality, Rape in fiction, Films about pedophilia, Ghost films, Serial killer films
Actors Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Weisz, Susan Sarandon, Stanley Tucci, Michael Imperioli, Saoirse Ronan
In 1973, 14-year-old Susie Salmon dreams about becoming a photographer. One day, Ray, a boy she has a crush on, approaches her at school and asks her out. As Susie walks home through a cornfield, she runs into her neighbor, George Harvey, who coaxes her into his underground den. Inside, Susie becomes uncomfortable and attempts to leave; when he grabs her, the scene fades until she is seen rushing past classmate Ruth Connors, apparently fleeing Harvey's den.
Friday the 13th (2009)
, 1h37Directed by Marcus Nispel
Origin USA
Genres Thriller, Horror, Slasher
Themes Transport films, Serial killer films, Road movies
Actors Jared Padalecki, Danielle Panabaker, Aaron Yoo, Nana Visitor, Amanda Righetti, Travis Van Winkle
On June 13, 1980, a young Jason Voorhees (Caleb Guss) watches as his mother Pamela (Nana Visitor) is beheaded by a camp counselor (Stephanie Rhodes), who was trying to escape Mrs. Voorhees's murder spree around Camp Crystal Lake. Almost 30 years later, a group of vacationing friends—Wade (Jonathan Sadowski), Richie (Ben Feldman), Mike (Nick Mennell), Whitney (Amanda Righetti) and Amanda (America Olivo)—arrive at Crystal Lake on a camping trip to search for marijuana growing in the woods. That night, Jason (Derek Mears), now an adult, begins to kill members of the group, but spares Whitney and abducts her because she resembles Pamela at a young age.
Final Destination 2 (2003)
, 1h28Directed by David Richard Ellis
Origin USA
Genres Thriller, Horror
Themes Serial killer films
Actors Ali Larter, A.J. Cook, Michael Landes, David Paetkau, Keegan Connor Tracy, Lynda Boyd
One year after the explosion of Flight 180, college student Kimberly Corman is headed to Daytona Beach, Florida for spring break with her friends, Shaina McKlank, Dano Estevez, and Frankie Whitman. En route, Kimberly has a premonition of wooden logs falling off a semi, causing a massive car crash that kills everyone involved. She stalls her car on the entrance ramp, preventing lottery winner Evan Lewis; widow Nora Carpenter and her fifteen-year-old son Tim; businesswoman Kat Jennings; stoner Rory Peters; pregnant Isabella Hudson; high school teacher Eugene Dix; and Deputy Marshal Thomas Burke from entering the highway. While Thomas questions Kimberly, the pileup occurs. Shaina, Dano, and Frankie are killed by a speeding truck, but Kimberly is saved by Thomas at the last second.
Identity (2003)
, 1h27Directed by James Mangold
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Horror, Crime
Themes Medical-themed films, Serial killer films, Films about psychiatry
Actors John Cusack, Ray Liotta, Amanda Peet, Alfred Molina, Clea DuVall, Rebecca De Mornay
A convict introduced as "Malcolm Rivers"—who was abandoned as a child at a motel by his prostitute mother—awaits execution for several vicious murders that took place at an apartment building. Malcolm's psychiatrist, Dr. Mallick, has discovered his journal that may explain why he committed the murders. With this late evidence brought forth, a new hearing takes place.
Zodiac (2007)
, 2h37Directed by David Fincher
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Documentary, Historical, Crime
Themes Films about writers, Films about journalists, Serial killer films
Actors Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr., Anthony Edwards, Brian Cox, John Carroll Lynch
On July 4, 1969, an unknown male attacks Darlene Ferrin and Mike Mageau with a handgun, at a lovers' lane in Vallejo, California. Mageau survives; Ferrin dies.
The Strangers (2008)
, 1h25Directed by Bryan Bertino
Origin USA
Genres Thriller, Horror
Themes Serial killer films
Actors Liv Tyler, Scott Speedman, Gemma Ward, Glenn Howerton, Jordan Orr
The film begins in medias res with a recorded 911 call of a boy screaming that he and his friend found two bodies lying in blood in an old vacation house.
Hannibal Rising (2007)
, 1h57Directed by Pietro Scalia, Peter Webber
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Drama, Thriller, Horror, Crime
Themes L'adolescence, Films about children, Films about families, Politique, Serial killer films, Political films, Tiré d'une œuvre de Thomas Harris
Actors Gaspard Ulliel, Gong Li, Rhys Ifans, Richard Leaf, Dominic West, Kevin McKidd
In 1941, an eight-year-old Hannibal Lecter lives in Lecter Castle in Lithuania. Hitler's invasion of the Soviet Union turns the Baltic region into part of the bloodiest front line of World War II. Lecter, his younger sister Mischa, and their parents travel to the family's hunting lodge in the woods to elude the advancing German troops. After three years, the Nazis are finally driven out of the countries soon to be occupied by the Soviet Union. During their retreat, however, they destroy a Soviet tank that had stopped at the Lecter family's lodge looking for water. The explosion kills everyone but Lecter and Mischa. They survive in the cottage until six former Lithuanian militiamen, led by a Nazi collaborator named Vladis Grutas, storm and loot it. Finding no other food in the bitterly cold Baltic winter, the men look menacingly at Lecter and Mischa.
Hot Fuzz (2007)
, 2h1Directed by Edgar Wright
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Comedy, Comedy thriller, Action, Crime
Themes Serial killer films, Buddy films
Actors Nick Frost, Simon Pegg, Jim Broadbent, Timothy Dalton, Martin Freeman, Bill Nighy
Police Constable Nicholas Angel, a high-achieving member of the Metropolitan Police Service, is promoted to Sergeant but it comes with being transferred to the village of Sandford, Gloucestershire, for being too good at his job while making his colleagues look bad by comparison due to his skills. Angel finds the town is generally devoid of any crime, with its local Neighbourhood Watch Alliance (NWA) helping to keep the peace as everyone prepares for the "Village of the Year" award contest. Angel finds minor instances of disorderly conduct, during which he confiscates a shed full of unlicensed fire arms including a naval mine, pursues an escaped swan, and arrests a drunk driver who turns out to be his new partner PC Danny Butterman, the son of town chief Inspector, Frank Butterman.
Halloween (2007)
, 1h50Directed by Rob Zombie
Origin USA
Genres Horror, Slasher
Themes L'adolescence, Films about education, Films about children, Medical-themed films, Serial killer films, L'enfance marginalisée, Films about psychiatry, Films set in psychiatric hospitals, Films about school violence
Actors Malcolm McDowell, Sheri Moon Zombie, Tyler Mane, Scout Taylor-Compton, Brad Dourif, Danielle Harris
On Halloween in Haddonfield, Illinois, having already shown signs of psychopathic tendencies, 10-year-old Michael Myers (Daeg Faerch) murders a school bully. Later that night, he murders his older sister Judith (Hanna R. Hall), his mother’s abusive boyfriend Ronnie (William Forsythe), and Judith's boyfriend Steve (Adam Weisman). Only his baby sister, Angel Myers, is spared. After one of the longest trials in the state’s history, Michael is found guilty of first degree murder and sent to Smith's Grove — Warren County Sanitarium under the care of child psychologist Dr. Samuel Loomis (Malcolm McDowell).
Righteous Kill (2008)
, 1h41Directed by Jon Avnet
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Action, Adventure, Crime
Themes Serial killer films
Actors Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Donnie Wahlberg, John Leguizamo, 50 Cent, Carla Gugino
Police psychologists review recordings of a man (Robert De Niro), who states his name as Detective David Fisk, the "Poetry Boy" killer. The Poetry Boy earned the moniker for his modus operandi of murdering criminals and leaving short poems with their bodies. Fisk reveals that he looks up to his partner of almost 30 years, Tom Cowan (who the audience is led to believe is the character portrayed by Al Pacino), and considers him to be his role model of how a cop should be. Pacino's character is known by the nickname "Rooster" and De Niro's by "Turk," and they are referred as such outside of the recordings.